We Sow What We Reap

As a woman who now lives on a farm, in the middle of nowhere, I discovered a thing or two about planting. I know that the dirt looks dry and crusty after a long winter of being covered up with blankets of snow, and that farmers must make the soil ready for planting.

I also know that a big machine that digs, called the “digger” comes out of our huge shed in early spring, and Farmer Dean and Uncle Gary head out to the fields to drag the huge claws through the dried up dirt preparing it for planting new seeds.

The soil always reminds me of crushed Oreo cookies when they are finished dragging the soil. You know how you’re making some delicious dessert that needs crushed Oreos and when you’re finished crushing them, the white no longer is a part of it, but all you see is the rich delicacy of deep black crumbs? That’s what the fields looks like … Pure crushed Oreo cookies.

I peer out the living room window and see Farmer Dean driving the digger, and watch as the huge machine pulls up the soil. I head out to the car to run into town for a few items, and I drive by the next field where Uncle Gary has the planter and I know that he is driving up and down the field to plant the seeds, and it dawns on me … what kind of seeds are we planting in our everyday lives?

The more I ponder this, the more kinds of seeds I begin to think about. Am I planting seeds of anger and bitterness? Busyness and being overwhelmed? Fatigue and indecision? Complacency? What are the seeds that I am planting in my heart day after day? What about you?

Each day we choose the way we will think, speak, and act. Each day we pull out the planter of our attitudes and actions and we place the seeds into the soil of our lives, and months later, I guarantee you, just like we will see the corn shooting up out of the ground in a few months, you and I will see the fruits of our actions coming up out of the field of our hearts. We reap what we sow … that’s what the Bible tells us.

Every day we have the option to go before God and ask for His help so that we can use love, patience, and self control. We choose to not hastily answer that email filled with accusations. We choose to not snap back at a friend who is having some issues. We choose to be patient with our children and our spouse. We choose to be loving and forgiving for those who have let us down and disappoint us. We choose to let go of those who are angry, even after we’ve asked forgiveness. We choose to plant little packets with seeds of hope, love, joy, forgiveness, kindness, and gratitude.

We reap what we sow. What are you planting today?

Galatians 6:7-8 (MSG)7-8 Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.